MD Among States With Highest Cases Of Lyme Disease

MD Among States With Highest Cases Of Lyme Disease

This is a file photo of a female deer tick seen under a University of Rhode Island microscope in the entomoloy lab. (AP Photo)

Primary Care Physician at MedStar Harbor Hospital Dr. Robert Dart talks about the new study. Download This File

Health officials say a new study reveals Lyme disease is about 10 times more common than previously reported, and Maryland is one of the
leading states with the highest cases of the disease.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Monday that as
many as 300,000 Americans are actually diagnosed with Lyme disease each year.

Usually, only 20,000 to 30,000 illnesses are reported each
year. For many years, CDC officials have known that many doctors don't report
every case and that the true count was probably much higher.

SEE SLIDESHOW ABOUT LYME DISEASE BELOW

The new figure is the CDC's most comprehensive attempt at a
better estimate. The number comes from a survey of seven national laboratories,
a national patient survey and a review of insurance information.

"It's giving us a fuller picture and it's not a pleasing
one," Dr. Paul Mead, who oversees the agency's tracking of Lyme disease
said.

The ailment is named after Lyme, Conn., where the illness
was first identified in 1975. It's a bacteria transmitted through the bites of
infected deer ticks, which can be about the size of a poppy seed.

Symptoms include a fever, headache and fatigue and sometimes
a telltale rash that looks like a bull's-eye centered on the tick bite. Most
people recover with antibiotics. If left
untreated, the infection can cause arthritis and more severe problems.

The new study did not find anything to suggest the disease
is more geographically widespread, Mead said.